1.Everyone shall possess the right to freely express and publicise his thoughts in words, images or by any other means, as well as the right to inform others, inform himself and be informed without hindrance or discrimination
2.Exercise of the said rights shall not be hindered or limited by any type or form of censorship
Constitution of the Portuguese Republic, Article 37.º

DUBAI Late-night phone calls, aggressive emails and even legal threats were received by organisers of the recent PR Congress in Dubai, prior to Clarence Mitchell appearing as a guest speaker.

Mitchell, the PR guru representing the family of missing toddler Madeleine McCann, was in Dubai last week talking about the PR aspects of the case. Conference director Kosta Petrov says over the past two months he has been regularly contacted by individuals, and even a PR agency, opposed to the McCann family. Some who question the McCanns' role in the Maddie case told Petrov that Mitchell should not have been invited.

Petrov says he told the vocal groups Mitchell's appearance was only so he could discuss media aspects of the case.

Mitchell said the protests were not unusual and warned Petrov about them.

In Depth: The media hunt for Maddie Media Week Middle East (page 19)

Clarence Mitchell, official spokesman for Kate and Gerry McCann, tells a Dubai audience how he used PR to battle with the press during the search for their missing daughter.

by PAUL McCLENNAN15 November 2009

«There were soon debates for and against the McCanns and that needed to be monitored. Where it strayed into libel we took action.»

EVEN BY Clarence Mitchell's own admission, there has never been a search quite like the one launched two-and-a-half years ago for Madeleine McCann. "It was a story that shocked the world," said Clarence Mitchell, as an opening remark to a presentation he gave last week at the PR Congress in Dubai.

Mitchell, a former BBC journalist of 20 years, quit his role as director of media monitoring at the British government's Central Office of Information in September 2007, to handle the McCanns' PR full time.

He was quick to point out to delegates that, "There is no evidence to suggest Madeleine is dead, and until the family know that for sure then we will continue to look for her". Only last week, the McCann's issued new pictures of Maddie to the media, illustrating how her appearance would have changed since she went missing on 3 May 2007 in Portugal.

Mitchell believes Maddie, aged four at the time, is still widely talked about due to the fact her disappearance occurred during the digital age. "Madeleine is the first, and most high-profile, missing child case in the internet era," he said.

Recalling the early days of the Maddie case, Mitchell said, "The Portuguese police thought it suspicious that a government adviser should turn up, but it was only because of all the media attention [that I was appointed]. I remember standing on the balcony counting 42 TV crews from around the world. It was a phenomenal situation which no family could have coped with."

Mitchell said the McCann family then had to endure leaks and rumours which emerged from Portugal, due to a "lack of evidence", surrounding Maddie's disappearance. "Stories were picked up by the British media and were mistranslated. So we had a distortion of the original distortion - it was a complete cycle of lunacy. There were soon debates for and against the McCanns and that needed to be monitored. Where it strayed into libel we took action because it was imperative to set down a marker."

It wasn't long before Mitchell had to call upon his PR skills to help shape the stories that were published about Maddie. "A few months later I needed to get positive messages out into the media and rebuff the lies. We had to challenge the preconceptions - this was done privately with editors. We had to establish our own narrative and key messages," he said.

"Journalists were hounding everyone who knew the McCanns," said Mitchell. "Reporters came to the door every day. For six months there were photographers at the end of the driveway, photographers crawling through hedges looking for them. Journalists wanted material for the 20-day and 50-day anniversaries - it was ridiculous."

"British newspapers did step out of line and we had 108 grossly defamatory headlines from the Express Newspaper's four titles, based on misinformation coming out of Portugal. We received front page apologies and £500,000 damages which went to the search fund. We also had apologies News of the World for printing parts of Kate's diary."

Mitchell and the McCanns still have to be prepared for factually incorrect stories, such as false sightings, appearing in the papers. "We always have to act swiftly against rubbish being disseminated in the media. But if you respect the media they will respect you back. The age of 'no comment' has gone - you have to engage," said Mitchell, who sometimes fields 300 calls a day from journalists around the world writing about the case.

Another challenge he is faced with is releasing fresh information to the media at the right time: "For the first anniversary we had to offer the press something decent to keep the interest going so we did Panorama and Hello!. For the second anniversary Oprah had been chasing us for some time so we worked with her. [The broadcast was televised in 144 countries.] I have 120 interview bids on the table for Kate and Gerry, from their local paper in Leicestershire to Larry King. We have also worked with Al Jazeera because we feel there's a chance Madeleine could be in the north of Africa."

TV appearances were not easy for the McCanns, who were closely scrutinized every time they appeared in front of the television cameras. "The police told them from the outset not to show emotion in interviews because there are cases when kidnappers get satisfaction from seeing the distress they've caused," explained Mitchell. "So Kate and Gerry did this but were then vilified across Portuguese media for being too cold and suspicious. Then when Kate did break down and cry people said she was just crying crocodile tears."

When asked by Media Week how the public viewed PR following Maddie's disappearance, Mitchell said, "I think the public, for various reasons, can be suspicious about PR - they don't see it as necessary and that it's there to hide and confuse. But that is categorically not the case in this instance." He also said that Arabic coverage of the case tended to be neutral.

Mitchell wrapped up the talk by saying he hoped media interest in Maddie would continue. He said, "Any story will have a gradual decline as time goes by but the media is still devoted to covering it [the Maddie case.] We will do what we can to keep it out there and I will continue for as long as Kate and Gerry want me to. But let's hope it all ends tomorrow with a phone call."

clarence said any story will have a gradual decline as time goes by.... can i be the first one to say that clarrie is completely wrong at least as far as the internet is concerned. No no no clarrie it will increase and increase and increase

The only place that they really are seen to go searching for Madeleine is in TV studios.The story "will have a gradual decline" as Clarence Mitchell goes off to more rewarding employment elsewhere (with several other media types currently involved.)

What an odious limelight grabber!! Another one milking the disappearance of Madeleine for as much as he can! He has to side with the McCanns but I have no doubt he thinks a lot differently to what comes out of his detestable gob! I have no doubt he will turn Judas if there comes a time when an arrest of the media obsessed McCanns is in sight!

Right now ( no, probably always) the odious Mitchell must be feeling very satisfied with himself and how wonderful he is at PR. He was employed full time by UK Government ( and still is IMO )to do PR full time for the duo, and John McCann too quit his job to go full time with the fund. So MM was not expected back any time soon then? Its all scam as many will agree and MM is never coming back, we know it and so do they but as Pinky states " there is no evidence that MM is dead......we will continue to look for her" So keep it going, he and Unle John are in it until their pensions. What is it with the hair the vain little man? Is it an attempt at a comb over to hide that he is losing it?

I would like to add to my previous post that it was all one sided for Pinky, the press asking no questions and printing everything he stated spin and lies , the UK/PT Governments doing everything to cover up, we all know the story by now so he had no opposition , his job was so easy all laid out for him. So his self congratulations are hollow and he is no more than a puppet who thinks he is clever but is controlled by his masters.

Time will be against the McCanns - it will be hard to convince people to look after Madeleine in 7 or 8 years after her disappearance. Time and Court will be a hard challenge. The credibility that they will loose will be proportional to the credibility that Gonçalo Amaral will win in court. And in our country a court process runs during several years, just the time enough to develop this disadvantage to ... some.Big judgment is coming but I may be wrong...Alexandra

Anybody know which PR agency Petrov is talking about? The one 'opposed to' the McCanns? Somebody must have hired them, I wonder who?

Mitchell is the most odious individual I have ever had the misfortune to see crawling out from under a rock. And I've seen a few, believe me. "He's just doing his job" is a common refrain to justify what he does. Yes he is. He is paid to defend the indefensible, to 'get positive messages out' about the McCanns which he does with 'private meetings with the editors'.

Forgive me for getting angry, but how about Mitchell getting some fucking 'positive messages' out to the editors for Madeleine's sake instead of her parents?

He could start by mentioning how no police force in the world believes that Madeleine survived beyond May 3rd 2007. That's why no police force is looking for her.

"When asked by Media Week how the public viewed PR following Maddie's disappearance, Mitchell said, "I think the public, for various reasons, can be suspicious about PR - they don't see it as necessary and that it's there to hide and confuse. But that is categorically not the case in this instance."

and this, too:"He also said that Arabic coverage of the case tended to be neutral."

so I tried to find neutral Arabic coverage and found Al Jezeerah stuff. Have you all watched the video "Mccanns vs the Press"?It as one-sided as you could possibly get! CM and Philomena get a lot of "tempo de antena", Tony Bennet gets trashed. At one point CM says he understands how some people might be Xenophobic about the Portuguese and how they are entitled to their opinion...This is the link to part 4 (my pet hate) and guarranteed to make anyone puke: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qPKn44DN9EMIf I thought CM was an unappealing spinner before, now I know why so many people absolutely abhor him.

My only consolation is the knowledge that the media is nobody's friend as someone says at the beginning of the video.All I can do is look forward to the time when he gets a taste of his own medicine.

The world has gone mad! Here you have this scumbag telling us that he controlled the media, and of course we are to take this as being normal.

"EVEN BY Clarence Mitchell's own admission, there has never been a search quite like the one launched two-and-a-half years ago for Madeleine McCann."

The only search that took place was by the Portuguese police and that search led to the parents because they are the ones who know where they disposed of their daughter. For some reason the search had to be stopped, credit records could not be obtained, contents of text messaging could not be accessed, the request for the return of forensic samples could not be fulfilled, etc. etc.

"Stories were picked up by the British media and were mistranslated. So we had a distortion of the original distortion - it was a complete cycle of lunacy.

Yes, "over 350 leads with regard to abduction were investigated" became in the British press "the lazy, incompetent, drunk lead investigator ignored 350 leads."

"It wasn't long before Mitchell had to call upon his PR skills to help shape the stories that were published about Maddie. We had to challenge the preconceptions - this was done privately with editors. We had to establish our own narrative and key messages," he said."

Shape the stories? So, I guess a PR firm can be used to "shape the stories." Unbelievable, I guess it's normal in Britain to sit down with editors and create your own stories. Journalism is dead.

The people who have been vilified are the Portuguese people. This couple and their representatives have disparaged Portugal internationally at every opportunity they get and what is shameful is that there are people in Portugal who are helping them to justify what they are claiming. A poster once said that the McCanns should be pelted with tomatoes, I say that the people that should be pelted with tomatoes are the Portuguese who are in cahoots with these degenerates.

#18. I remember reading somewhere at first the press went along with the PR because in hopes of getting the "big" story if the child was found. Also being a director of the MMU gave Clarrie contacts and information on 'things' according to the early press reports. It is not right to have someone spinning and distorting and changing the perception of a case when there is a child missing. The other thing the chairman of the Press Complaints Commission was married to a friend of the McCs at the time.

I feel ashamed to be the same nationality as this vile little man and the twosome he works for. I am sorry Portugal has been disrespected. -if it is any consolation all the wine I bought for Christmas is Portuguese and I am looking forward to a nice glass on Christmas day. A small token of my solidarity. Cheers and Merry Christmas to all, I feel it will be a better New Year for justice for Madeleine.

Clarry seems to be a little confused. So Madeleine was "the first missing child case in the digital age." What about the Elizabeth Smart case in the US in 2003 Clarry? "There is no evidence to suggest Madeleine is dead." So what did the police dogs find Clarry?""... until then we will continue to look for her." Why aren't the police looking for her, but only the PIs Clarry? "It was only because of the media attention that I was appointed." But it was McCann that courted the media attention Clarry. "I think the public, for various reasons can be suspicious about PR." No kidding Clarry?

'It wasn't long before Mitchell had to call upon his PR skills to help shape the stories that were published about Maddie.'

Mitchell stated:

"A few months later I needed to get positive messages out into the media and rebuff the lies.

We had to challenge the preconceptions - this was done PRIVATELY with editors. We had to establish our OWN narrative and key messages,"

---Roughly translated that means he had to retract some of their own lies and set about making up stories which hopefully would show them (McCann's) in a good light.Mitchell said also :

"I think the public, for various reasons, can be suspicious about PR - they don't see it as necessary and that it's there to hide and confuse.

But that is categorically not the case in this instance."

-----

Now have I missed something here? In the first part of his statement, he tells us that they had private meetings with editors so that they could get together their OWN narrative and key messages.

He then speaks of the public being suspicious of PR as they feel it is there to hide and confuse matters!

Confused anyone? Isn't that exactly what he was preparing with these editors, ways to confuse the public?

Well if it was not for the fact that we here, have been following this case, that we are intelligent people and can see through Mr. Mitchell and his employer's we may well be confused.

So, in the instance of this case, we should not be suspicious as Clarence told us it is okay, and Clarence always speaks the 'truth' that is his OWN truth in his OWN narrative discussed with editors - so that's alright then. But in other cases where PR is used, perhaps we had better be suspicious that something is being hidden, glossed over, as not everyone as is honest as Team McCann!

He tells us also of how the Portuguese police were suspicious when he turned up to assist McCann's. They had no need to be though, he was there simply because it would have been too much for the McCann's to cope with - all of that media attention. 42 TV crews he counted at one point. No family could have coped he said.

No other family would have been appointed a PR man who was a government adviser, that is for sure!

He then tells us of what the McCann's had to endure through leaks, lack of evidence and rumour which came out of Portugal, it was wrongly translated - cycle of lunacy he states. The DISTORTIONS from Portugal being further DISTORTED in British press.

Easy to see what he is being paid for and why the public think it is not necessary or proper to have a PR in the case of a missing child.

I note too, that in the McCann blog we no longer have the 'no stone unturned' but have opted for 'going down every avenue.'

Mitchell has changed from 'There is no evidence to suggest that Madeleine has been harmed'

to

'There is no evidence to suggest that Madeleine is dead.

A change of tactic and language - I take it this is the lingo/phrases to be used in 2010.

They took such a hammering over the 'no evidence to suggest Madeleine has been harmed and the 'no stone unturned' that I guess they had to make changes.

So private meetings with editors so as to get their narrative out there?

And we all know the ridiculous narrative and schemes which that involved.

Wonder if that includes D.Edgar's piece about the lair and Donal MacIntyres about the dry runs the alleged abductors performed in the McCann apartment. Did they all get together with the editors of the various rags and came up with these stories, I wonder.

Hey ho, not to worry, after this article, Clarence leaves himself and the McCann's looking more than a little foolish and even less credible if that is possible.

As far as PR to make the McCann's more appealing to the public is concerned, Clarence Mitchell is a clown, not a magician!

I think the boat sailed on that one, and I think Clarence is way past his 'sell by date' now.

I do believe he has let them down quite badly in the PR stakes, as he may, over the past two and half years, just have managed to make them out to be a whole lot worse than they are, as he certainly has done them no favours!

Personally I think he is hopeless at PR. He really is quite laughable and I cringe when I hear him speak. The silly statements, so unbelievable, he is only fooling himself, as he certainly isn't fooling anyone else. I think he has damaged their already tarnished reputations.

They are struggling now, as few can now take them or Clarence seriously- and that's before his new rug!

"The age of 'no comment' has gone - you have to engage," said Mitchell"- What a selfish guy saying that after revealing the obvious: "A few months later I needed to get positive messages out into the media and rebuff the lies. We had to challenge the preconceptions - this was done privately with editors. We had to establish our own narrative and key messages," he said.

Really Clarrie? We all think that on that case and situation, the priority should be establishing all the bridges with police to help Maddie to be found ASAP and give evidences of an abduction, since the Mccann's were absolutely sure that she was abducted and don't accept any other theory. But, as a good PR to the parents and not to the little girl, he was not interested in finding Maddie, dead or alive, this is why he changed a full time job with G. Brown, by a full time job with Gerry, which can end up quickly if she were found. But he know, before signing his contract, that there is no risk to loose his new job early. And after, during this 2,5 years he work hard to avoid the police to get close to the truth and find the girl. He work hard framing newspaper editors, forcing them to publish stories which fit's on Mccann's agenda and contrary what he said, comments were not allowed. The Mccann's did not tolerate different opinions. Free speech it is a value which was not part of Mccann's education. As a perfect selfish Man, he have to find the BAD GUY, the one which cause all troubles- PORTUGAL OFF-COURSE, not the MCCANN'S WHICH LEFT THEIR CHILDS ( Babies) NIGHT AFTER NIGHT ALONE until one get serious harmed. Sorry, he and the special parents still not believing that the girl was harmed.... she disappeared tacked by somebody( according to them) which they don't know but they know is a paedophile, but she was not harmed... there is no evidence. I agree, there is no evidence of her been tacked by such strange. Portugal, the miserable country, the guilt country, was the only one which cried Maddie fate and physical search and pray for her. CLARRIE, HOW MUCH MONEY from Portuguese anonymous donaters was dropped on Maddie Fund to pay your insultuous salary? Did you pay taxes for that salary? Did the mccann's pay taxes about all the money earned on the Fund? WHY HAVE YOU AND YOUR EMPLOYERS TO BE TREATED AS EXCEPCIONS? WHAT IS BEHIND THE FARCE, SINCE YOUR FULL TIME JOB APPEARS TO BE FOR A LIFE?

I note too, Mitchell refers to Madeleine as 'Maddie' They told us that they never referred to her as Maddie. Surely Mitchell would know this considering he has worked so closely with them for such a long time?

Over the last 2.5 years I have sent countless negative letters to several newspaper "readers letters" pages ,not ONE has even been printed ,yet the same papers have lots of "God bless the sacred two" letters/comments .....Is this part of Clarries deal with editors? have they been told they will be sued if ANYTHING negative is printed in the comments/letter sections of their papers ? I dont think it takes a lot of working out does it ?

It all boils down to why do the duo still needa PR goon like Pinky ( with the bad rug , oh so vain )? Why did they ever need Pinky when the plain truth was all that was necessary? Then it was not the plain truth that was spun. Pinky is there to spin lies and keep the smoke screen going and trying to keep his rug on. Nobody belives him thats his problem, if they did we would all have accepted the story by now.

Joana, everyday I click on VIDEOS on your blog, I write "McCanns Marathon" on "search archive" and I listen over and over again to Gim Gamble and to the reporters.I observe the fear of the Mccanns too.Gosh, they are scared.When are they finally going to sue the CEOP?

By the way, which one on this blog can tell me where Gim Gamble comes from?He has a funny, lovely accent.

ENOUGH IS ENOUGH - a child is "dead", two sanctimonious rastards feel fit to roam this earth for financial gain and some other "scrounger" has no morals but to financially benefit from the death of that child - PLEASE will someone put an end to this whole freeking charade.

May each and every single one of ALL who is involved with this missing child realise they will not meet their maker (ie GOD) but will be forever condemned to HELL (and quite rightly so).

Eternity is a LONG LONG LONG LONG time(anyone ever heard of kharma?)

JOANNA, to you, the AMARAL FAMILY and everyone else who believes justice will prevail may I wish you all a very merry christmas and and an end to this absolute sham.

To the McScams..."just how can you live with yourselves?"[genuine question] - yeah, easy, it was never your fault, eh? Absolutely SHAMEFUL.

For a PR man Mitchell hasn't even got a decent vocabulary. I suppose when meeting with 'editors' he relied on them to translate his cumbersome wordiness into readable text.If he cannot understand the basics of the English language how come he is so sure the British papers misinterpreted the news coming out of Portugal. Typical, PR people should learn other languages before they start telling lies.Some five year- old's are more articulate.

Will this apply to the duo if the FSS has kept any LCN DNA? They appear to be immune to all the normal rigours of life that the rest of us have to deal with. If LCN DNA will be good enough to convict others after the High Court ruling then the Law should be applied equally. If the FSS has any DNA evidence against the Mcanns then the case takes on a whole lot more significance?

I see GM is doing the closing speech at the CEOPS conference in January - what the hell is going on? Surely this cannot be appropriate. What is Jim Gamble up to? I see there is a speaker in the afternoon doing a talk on `False Allegations of Abduction` - now that IS appropriate !

Recalling the early days of the Maddie case, Mitchell said, "The Portuguese police thought it suspicious that a government adviser should turn up, but it was only because of all the media attention [that I was appointed]. I remember standing on the balcony counting 42 TV crews from around the world. It was a phenomenal situation which no family could have coped with."

Well, who was it who got the press involved in the first place?

42 TV crews was exactly what the McCann's wanted, the more exposure the better.

Tell the truth Claire (sorry Clarence) the reason you were really brought in was to spin spin spin!

Joana,Perhaps you knows Typhaine Taton's case. She was 5 years old, disappeared in june, her mother said during six months she was abducted. Last month Typhaine's mother confessed, after being grilled during 24 hours by police, she killed (accidentally?) the little girl. Her partner, a free fireman, put the cadaver in a wood in Belgium. The mother was as cold as Kate, and very easy with medias. A strange story also, she has two other daughters, well cared. If this mother flyed out of France like Mccanns did out Portugal, if she had a PR to cover the case and give her key messages, do you really think we could now know the truth? We don't know yet what happens to Antoine, whose moter said last year he was abducted. I see nothing of Typhaine's strange and sad story on british papers, noting also on "pro" blogs whitch use missing childs case to support the Mccanns.

This lying spinner Mitchell should stop congratulating himself. The story is not over yet.

The UK media would love nothing better than for the Portuguese to reopen the McCann case, and for the investigators to speak out about their findings, instead of allowing the McSpinners to pull the wool with their abduction fairy story. To them it will be 'sensational' information, and they do have to sell newspapers!

The upcoming court case will go far to address so many of the lies that have been put into media by the McCanns. No wonder they are trying a last ditch attempt for the sympathy vote by rolling out their children. Shades of extreme desparation to do something like that. They obviously thought that frail Kate was not enough.

Keep speaking out Sr Amaral and those other investigators who know the true facts of the case. Make sure your message is heard loud and clear by the UK media, address them directly, because it sure makes more sense than the McCanns.

After reading the above maybe Clarrie did deserve his money after all.

The mere fact of taking 300 phonecalls a day is a marathon effort. If he managed four hours sleep that would be 15 calls an hour during his waking period.If they averaged three mins each that would leave him only 15 minutes an hour to himself. This disregards time spent on meetings, family, travelling, interviews, abolutions and personal hygine. Or did he combine tasks? Maybe his hair was being dyed as he talked on his mobile, on a train, sitting on the toilet, shaving, while taking his family on a trip to a meeting where he would give a interview.That sort of multitasking would allow him five hours a day to go shopping for pink shirts.

41, thank you for telling me where Gim Gamble comes from.Northen Ireland, never been there.I love his accent.

People who doubts about his honesty, please don't do it.Somewhere here I read GM will make a speech at a CEOP's something, in January.GM makes me think of what Gamble said:"The perpetrator will be controlling people around him".Not only the perpetrator is a controlfreak but GM too.That is why he will speak at the CEOP's.Let GM talk.No problem. Nobody at the CEOP is stupid.

What I wanted to say above is that GM is trying to control the CEOP.People who work there are used to this kind of attempt.Go back to the video McCanns Marathon and watch how scared the parents are, when Gamble speaks.Watch how nervous Gerry is, when talking.Watch Kate!Boy, she regrets that day in September when she called Jim asking for an appeal.

CEOP is about to become Independent which means that Gamble will have more power. Gamble said that it is CEOPs belief that IF there is no evidence to the death of a missing child .... The public must look for a living child..Jim Gamble and Dave Edgar are BOTH ex Ruc...

Remember Mccanns words 'There is no evidence that Madeleine has come to serious harm'...

Gamble will now be in the position to help Mccann keep Madeleine alive. Just my opinion.Also remember that Mccann had books from CEOP...books that are NOT for public use..

The sh*t that I have just read from the pink one actually makes me quite afraid about the country I come from. Until the arrival of the pink one I had no real idea what 'spin' was. I wonder if I will ever believe another word that is written in our newspapers. Am I stupid, or why, why, why does no one question his crap. Sorry to be so explicit but I am soo mad. Sickened by the whole lot of them.Forca Goncalo.